The Half Done Mateship

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Lara's POV

Lara could remember the day like yesterday.

Haley was watching TV to ignore the grumbling of her stomach. Uncle Matt was dozing off on the couch.

Lara sneaked off to the kitchen and put a toast into the toaster. Keeping it there she went back to accompany Haley. Soon, it had slipped her mind. She didn't remember it until the fire alarm started blaring. Her stomach churned as she ran to the kitchen only to find Uncle rescuing the burnt as coal toasts out of the toaster.

She had come a long way since then. The perfectly browned toast in her hand reminded her of that. She applied mango jam to her toast with a smile.

She never thought she'd say this. But her days were brighter with her paranormal friend.

The past week went in a blur with Zee around. She had someone to snigger with behind her book in class. At work, Zee would take care of any Karen who thought themselves to be invincible. Lara's mind would buzz with dinner ideas all day since Zee had started taste-tasting her food. Even Zayeen was maintaining her distance with Lara.

One day, he even brought a camera with him. He claimed Lara's photos while she cooked would win any contests. She had blushed profusely. Though his photos were less than ideal in terms of aesthetic or even being free from blurs, he was getting better. The other day, his shot of chicken pasta was almost as if a human familiar with technology had taken it. She smiled at the thought, appreciating the sentiment.

Lara glanced at the clock. Zee was running late. Deciding against waiting for him at the expense of being late, she started her walk to school. However, Zee didn't join her in the street or even in the school.

She took her usual seat in history class. Kian and Favian took their seat before her. Cora appreared a few minutes after them and sat beside her.

The bell rang and Mr. Anderson stood up from his seat. "I bet you are wondering about the group project." He rubbed his hands together. "We have good news! You get to choose your historical site."

Murmurs broke out among students.

"Calm down. Calm down." He struck the duster against his desk.

Lara's mind was buzzing with ideas. She was leaning towards the Colosseum or the Pyramid of Giza. There would be more than enough research material about those.

Kian turned around, facing them. "How about the Temple in the woods?"

Favian turned around as well. Lara blinked at the three expectant gazes at them.

"I don't have a problem," Cora said, leaning back and looking at Lara.

Her heart started beating faster, blood rushing to her face, making her feel hot. She bit her upper lip.

"Will there be enough information?" she asked, gulping.

"Our advantage is that we get to explore the site. We can use local legends to make it interesting. It has a lot of history and it's going to waste."

Kian's tone at the end made Lara believe it was a topic of interest to him, or something personal. They were new. Lara shouldn't bulldoze over their ideas. Plus, maybe she should learn to take risks and learn new things. A presentation on the Pyramid of Giza had been done a million times before. How many times did someone do one of the Temple in the woods?

"Alright."

"Archeologists excavated the site over a decade ago, we can find some information about it from the library," said Favian.